Gun Show-Things that make you go Hummmmm........

[Rockrivr1]

No I'm not talking about the normal crowds, or "smells" or the inevitable rip off artists at them. Besides those what makes you just go hummm when you attend a gun show. Whether that's a good, bad or just confused Hummmm is entirely up to you.

I had one of those moments last weekend at the Concord Gun Show. When you enter and turn left right off there was a guy against the wall, next to the guys selling safes, that typically sells some very nice C&Rs. There is always things in his glass cases that are interesting and especially so at this show.

In his last case he had a Webley VI in it's original .455 condition with a box of 455 Webley ammo sitting next to it. For those that don't know an uncut Webley is not all that common especially with a box of ammo. He had a tag on it with a white dot where he normally puts his price. So of course I have to ask what the price is.

His response is the Hummm, part. He said that he's not selling it at the show as he still needs to figure out a price for it and that he's not sure why he brought it. So I'm thinking to myself, yeah, why did you bring it? Normally I would think this was a scam to see who will offer some outrageous amount, but I passed his table several times and I heard him say the same thing to several people asking about it.

So my Hummm is, why bring a gun to a gun show you're not going to sell?? That makes no sense to me. Same as the guy in Marlboro that brings a case full of Colts that he can't sell......

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Some people think it is a "Gun SHOW".

 

[Dennis in MA]

Good point. I don't go to a S-show to buy S. But I do watch a lot of it.

A seller with an item that's NFS - ??? Almost as bad as the guy that puts no prices. . . or worse, puts the price tags face DOWN in the case. (Less and less of that as time goes.) Or, as discussed before, people like that old guy from CT that brings a S-show of Non-Mass-Compliant guns to every show. With a carefully printed description card with EACH AND EVERY GUN! Must take him hours to set up and take down given his age.



Here's another Hmmmm. . . .

Does the guy with tackle-box after tackle-box of M14/M1Garand/1911 parts (we're talking PARTS. Used parts!) even making his table rental back??? Is he there to sell parts or is he just there to hang out for 2 days. Because I never see anyone pouring over the parts when you can order them from Brownell's in about 8 minutes and have brandy-new ones at your door inside of a week.

 

[drgrant]

No I'm not talking about the normal crowds, or "smells" or the inevitable rip off artists at them. Besides those what makes you just go hummm when you attend a gun show. Whether that's a good, bad or just confused Hummmm is entirely up to you.

I had one of those moments last weekend at the Concord Gun Show. When you enter and turn left right off there was a guy against the wall, next to the guys selling safes, that typically sells some very nice C&Rs. There is always things in his glass cases that are interesting and especially so at this show.

In his last case he had a Webley VI in it's original .455 condition with a box of 455 Webley ammo sitting next to it. For those that don't know an uncut Webley is not all that common especially with a box of ammo. He had a tag on it with a white dot where he normally puts his price. So of course I have to ask what the price is.

His response is the Hummm, part. He said that he's not selling it at the show as he still needs to figure out a price for it and that he's not sure why he brought it. So I'm thinking to myself, yeah, why did you bring it? Normally I would think this was a scam to see who will offer some outrageous amount, but I passed his table several times and I heard him say the same thing to several people asking about it.

So my Hummm is, why bring a gun to a gun show you're not going to sell?? That makes no sense to me. Same as the guy in Marlboro that brings a case full of Colts that he can't sell......

There are guys that bring guns to shows that have virtually no intention of selling anything they brought, you're not aware of this? There was at least one dealer who would buy like 6 tables and only one out of the 6 had shit for sale on it, there rest of it he was just showing off. Sometimes I think it's also an attempt to attract leads so they can purchase more of the stuff like they have on display. It becomes a conversation piece, etc. "Oh I see you collect Lugers! Do you want my 1940 Eizenfurt SS special edition luger? blah blah blah, etc.

Another possibility... "white dot guy" was hoping someone would flash a big wad of cash in his face for that Webley- he's going full retard on "whoever names the first number, loses" credo of negotiation.

BTW that's not a "scam" either, unless he's pointing the gun at someone and demanding they buy it. Is it a weird/shitty way of doing business? Definitely... that said, I don't think you can call it a scam unless the guy is doing it with the intent to defraud, etc.

I will say, however, that back when I used to "surf the shows" on a regular basis, when I see some gun on someones table I really like, and then they tell me it's not for sale (without putting signage on it indicating so, so I don't even have to ask the question) that's pretty much a segue for me to just leave and not even look at the rest of the stuff in the booth, my bullshit tolerance for those kinds of games is pretty much zero.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

Here's another Hmmmm. . . .

Does the guy with tackle-box after tackle-box of M14/M1Garand/1911 parts (we're talking PARTS. Used parts!) even making his table rental back??? Is he there to sell parts or is he just there to hang out for 2 days. Because I never see anyone pouring over the parts when you can order them from Brownell's in about 8 minutes and have brandy-new ones at your door inside of a week.

I get the impression some of these guys do this stuff just so they can get away from their nagging wives for a few weekends a year.

-Mike

 

[Dennis in MA]

One would do better selecting more suitable wife material in the first place.

 

[dwarven1]

So my Hummm is, why bring a gun to a gun show you're not going to sell?? That makes no sense to me.

Attract foot traffic to his table? Don't know. But then, I've got some stuff on my tables that if they don't sell, I'd be perfectly happy to keep. I'm still wondering if I should have just kept that Mossberg S146M that went at the Barre show...

What I wonder about is the guy who says "Wow, that's a good price on [pick a gun]" and five minutes later asks me if I can take some off the price. WTF?? You just TOLD me you thought it was a good price, dude!! (He bought it anyway, of course.)

 

[sieveboy]

I'd say always make an offer on something you want, I bring cash for just such an occasion.

 

[mikelawtown]

Never been to a Show and don't plan on going to one

 

[Drix]

That gun did its job- it brought you over to his table and engaged a conversation. Its just like that guy that was in Marlboro a few years ago selling tickets to the pre-ban AUG raffle. Course, when I walked over to look at his table and the Aug he was boasting how if he didnt sell enough tickets he probably wouldn't pull the raffle, told me right quick to **** off from his table.

- - - Updated - - -

That gun did its job- it brought you over to his table and engaged a conversation. Its just like that guy that was in Marlboro a few years ago selling tickets to the pre-ban AUG raffle. Course, when I walked over to look at his table and the Aug he was boasting how if he didnt sell enough tickets he probably wouldn't pull the raffle, told me right quick to **** off from his table.

 

[drgrant]

Never been to a Show and don't plan on going to one

You're not really missing much at this point. The best days were 10+ yrs ago. The Rockingham NH show used to be pretty
epic. Guys would have tables full of stuff that was interesting or worth buying. And the prices wouldn't be completely retarded.

The only reason I even bother going now is there's a few dealers I know that are left, ill stop in say hello, look at their stuff, and get the
**** out. I'm usually in an out of a show in under an hour or so. Get through the door, do a sweep, talk to a few people, get out.

-Mike

 

[MisterHappy]

I have no problem with people bringing look-no-sells.....hell I'm there to mostly look-not-buy!

That said, I have had a table a few times, and everything that I brought had a price; some were to "make it go away"....others were blue-sky-retail+++....'cause if I sold it, I wanted it to be worth selling.

The way I see it, is the guy bought a table....he can put whatever he wants on it.

 

[Smokewagon]

So my Hummm is, why bring a gun to a gun show you're not going to sell?? That makes no sense to me. Same as the guy in Marlboro that brings a case full of Colts that he can't sell......

Maybe he didn't quite know the price, and wasn't' going to sell unless someone offered him so much money he wasn't going to say no. Back when I lived in/around Tulsa and would go to the huge gun show they held there, you would always run across a few of those guys/guns. I remember asking about a guns that weren't for sale to hear their story. Wander by the next day or later on that day and see the gun gone. Each time the owner said they couldn't say no to the price someone offered.

 

[whacko]

No I'm not talking about the normal crowds, or "smells" or the inevitable rip off artists at them. Besides those what makes you just go hummm when you attend a gun show. Whether that's a good, bad or just confused Hummmm is entirely up to you.

I had one of those moments last weekend at the Concord Gun Show. When you enter and turn left right off there was a guy against the wall, next to the guys selling safes, that typically sells some very nice C&Rs. There is always things in his glass cases that are interesting and especially so at this show.

In his last case he had a Webley VI in it's original .455 condition with a box of 455 Webley ammo sitting next to it. For those that don't know an uncut Webley is not all that common especially with a box of ammo. He had a tag on it with a white dot where he normally puts his price. So of course I have to ask what the price is.

His response is the Hummm, part. He said that he's not selling it at the show as he still needs to figure out a price for it and that he's not sure why he brought it. So I'm thinking to myself, yeah, why did you bring it? Normally I would think this was a scam to see who will offer some outrageous amount, but I passed his table several times and I heard him say the same thing to several people asking about it.

So my Hummm is, why bring a gun to a gun show you're not going to sell?? That makes no sense to me. Same as the guy in Marlboro that brings a case full of Colts that he can't sell......

It was a conversation starter.

 

[slap shot]

Dude's a marketing genius.
Not only did the folks at the show that might be interested get turned away to think about ho wmuch they want it, the whole NES community is now aware.

 

[enbloc]

I buy shrunken heads at gun shows because the prices are better there...

 

[FalArAk]

It's what skinflints do,they go to gunshows.

 

[swampy]

I've adopted the strategy that if an item is on the table and it doesn't have a price tag on it, it isn't for sale. I won't ask.

Dealers selling boxes of ammo with multiple headstamps, scraped cases from dirty sizing dies, and different color primers as factory loads. Hmmmm!

Rooms that have plenty of extra space yet the isles are crowded so tight you can't walk past tables that have people standing 1 person deep at them...like Foxboro. Spread the isles out rather than leave 30 feet empty at the end of the room for crying out loud!

 

[ejl923]

I've adopted the strategy that if an item is on the table and it doesn't have a price tag on it, it isn't for sale. I won't ask.

Dealers selling boxes of ammo with multiple headstamps, scraped cases from dirty sizing dies, and different color primers as factory loads. Hmmmm!

Rooms that have plenty of extra space yet the isles are crowded so tight you can't walk past tables that have people standing 1 person deep at them...like Foxboro. Spread the isles out rather than leave 30 feet empty at the end of the room for crying out loud!

I noticed that, wonder why they do that. Half the room will be empty, and everyone is scrunching to get by one another. My thoughts on shows is the prices on firearms and related parts arent really that good. I went last summer looking for mags, and i left saying i might as well buy new. I did pick up a couple bags and rifle case, theres some deals there.

 

[Broc]

"Every AK was manufactured before 1990, everything AK is pre-ban" ... that's what a vendor told me when I was looking at AK mags.

 

[mark056]

Gun shows started out like car shows, cat shows etc. They were places where "gun cranks" (an endearing term back in the day) could show off their collections. I always find these collector exhibits interesting. There is one guy who has a fantastic collection of German martial arms, another who displays guns used by the Boston PD over the decades.

The Winchester Collectors Assn display their guns at the West a Springfield Show. It gives enthusiasts an opportunity to network, follow up on new leads on collectibles and perhaps sell or trade to fellow collectors.

That's the "show" part in gun show.

 

[MichaelJames1971]

I used to get my switchblades at gun shows - the cutlery selections were always robust, and high-quality.

Was sometimes nice to see WWII/Korea stuff displayed, but these were de rigueur at PA and SC gun shows, booths were manned by veterans who had stories behind their collections.

 

[drgrant]

Gun shows started out like car shows, cat shows etc. They were places where "gun cranks" (an endearing term back in the day) could show off their collections. I always find these collector exhibits interesting. There is one guy who has a fantastic collection of German martial arms, another who displays guns used by the Boston PD over the decades.

The Winchester Collectors Assn display their guns at the West a Springfield Show. It gives enthusiasts an opportunity to network, follow up on new leads on collectibles and perhaps sell or trade to fellow collectors.

That's the "show" part in gun show.

IIRC the Boston PD dude is another semi-active member right here on NES, but I can't remember his username offhand.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

I've adopted the strategy that if an item is on the table and it doesn't have a price tag on it, it isn't for sale. I won't ask.

Dealers selling boxes of ammo with multiple headstamps, scraped cases from dirty sizing dies, and different color primers as factory loads. Hmmmm!

Rooms that have plenty of extra space yet the isles are crowded so tight you can't walk past tables that have people standing 1 person deep at them...like Foxboro. Spread the isles out rather than leave 30 feet empty at the end of the room for crying out loud!

They'll never do that, as it's basically a dirty trick by the promoter to make the dealers think that they're getting their moneys worth by making the show/crowd volume appear bigger than it actually is. They're also so ****ing greedy they don't want any dealer possibly "getting an inch more of space than they paid for." If they stretched the show out than that mean that a dealer could sneak in an extra end table or end display... which is something they could have paid the promoter another $70 for. (or whatever a table goes for these days, I forget. ) .

-Mike

 

[ejl923]

thats too bad, i pass tables that are too crowded, and will take my time and browse where i have room to breathe

 

[Rockrivr1]

I used to get my switchblades at gun shows - the cutlery selections were always robust, and high-quality.

Was sometimes nice to see WWII/Korea stuff displayed, but these were de rigueur at PA and SC gun shows, booths were manned by veterans who had stories behind their collections.

At a few of the recent gun shows there were more knife vendors then there were gun vendors. Everything from really nice high end knives to wallymart crap with prices all over the place. Same as the guns at a gun show.

 

[enbloc]

IIRC the Boston PD dude is another semi-active member right here on NES, but I can't remember his username offhand.

-Mike

Methinks it was "Ben Cartwright SASS"

 

[timbo]

Rooms that have plenty of extra space yet the isles are crowded so tight you can't walk past tables that have people standing 1 person deep at them...like Foxboro. Spread the isles out rather than leave 30 feet empty at the end of the room for crying out loud!

This was the situation at the Concord show this past weekend, except half the aisles to the right as you walked in were a full two feet narrower than the left hand aisles...I heard more than a few dealers bitching about that.

 

[Noreaster]

You're not really missing much at this point. The best days were 10+ yrs ago. The Rockingham NH show used to be pretty
epic. Guys would have tables full of stuff that was interesting or worth buying. And the prices wouldn't be completely retarded.

The only reason I even bother going now is there's a few dealers I know that are left, ill stop in say hello, look at their stuff, and get the
**** out. I'm usually in an out of a show in under an hour or so. Get through the door, do a sweep, talk to a few people, get out.

-Mike

I quit going to the marlborough show about 6 years or so ago.
- The beef jerkey was not the amazing deal it used to be.
- Ammo by the case prices were no bargain anymore. Stock even became a problem. (i am sure that stock is no longer an issue)
- I have no want to hang around with the people collecting the nazi crap
- prices. The show special price is not a discount, its a jacked up price.

And of course, i could not find the loopholes the news talks about all the time, i really felt let down.

 

[413dan]

Methinks it was "Ben Cartwright SASS"

this ^, really nice fellow. I enjoy chatting with him at shows.